“I have always gone to Parliament” - Zuma

By Charl Bosch - Jan 20, 2015

President Jacob Zuma has rubbished accusations of him not attending sittings in the National Assembly, saying that he never refused going to Parliament.

“Nobody said I must come to Parliament and I refused, I went to Parliament [and] members stopped me from answering questions,” he told the SABC, referring to the August 21st fiasco, in which members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) began chanting “pay back the money” after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, found that Zuma had unduly benefitted from the R246-million security upgrades at his private Nkandla home. He has not appeared in Parliament since.

“Parliaments are respected institutions [and] as political parties we should take that into account because it is not a place to play around. It is not a place to shout slogans…the President has never refused to come to answer questions,” he said.

Zuma’s expected State of Nation address on February 12th will see him returning to Parliament for the first time since the incident.

Last week, a special sitting request by EFF leader Julius Malema, was denied by National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, after the party had threatened to disrupt Zuma’s address out of protest for him not appearing in the National Assembly to answer questions.